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Left parties oppose any move to increase power tariff

State and the Chittoor district leaders of the CPI (M) and the CPI warned the government against increasing power tariff as the people were already frustrated and agitated over a range of problems such as steep increase in the price of essential commodities, petroleum price hike, drought, lack of MSP to agricultural products and so on.

Participating in a joint workshop conducted at Tirupati on Sunday, CPI (M) leaders -- M.A. Gafoor, Somaiah, K. Kumar Reddy and K. Murali and the CPI leaders-- P. Harinadha Reddy and Rama Naidu launched a strident attack on the government and wondered how the government could be so indifferent and insensitive to the ordeals of the poor and the middle class sections.

It was in this connection they said that the Left parties would be conducting workshops in four different parts of State to mobilise them against the government in its fight for the survival of the common man. They regretted that the government should turn a deaf ear to the suggestions made to it by the Left parties, though the suggestions if implemented could help the government address the power sector problems without having to resort to the needless tariff increase.

All India strike

The leaders also urged the trade unions and the people to participate in large numbers in the nation wide general strike called by 11 Left parties on February, 28 to resent the way the Central and State governments were ‘mercilessly squeezing' the poor and the middle class with huge taxation, price increase, poor budgetary allocations and so on.

Left parties to mobilise people to protest against faulty policies of the Centre